Miranda v. Grace Farms, Inc.

Background

On February 23, 2016, Arturo Daniel Miranda, Alfonso Vera Rodas, Miguel Garcia, and Daniel Grande Netzahuatl filed a collective action against Grace Farms, Inc., Unak Grocery Corp., Rajni Singhal, and Vivek Singhal. The complaint alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal wage-and-hour law, and the New York Labor Law. The defendants were identified as including Grace Farms, Inc. doing business as City Cafe and Unak Grocery Corp. doing business as Liberty Cafe.

The court later consolidated the Miranda Action with the related Amaro Action, which involved different plaintiffs but the same or similar defendants. The court directed the parties to file future documents in the first-filed case, No. 16-cv-1369.

Settlement and Counsel Issues

On May 31, 2022, the court rejected the parties’ settlement agreements and directed them to file revised agreements within 45 days. The court stated that it would otherwise assume the parties intended to abandon settlement. On June 2, 2022, the court granted defense counsel’s motion to withdraw and gave the defendants 30 days to retain new counsel.

As of July 19, 2022, the parties had not filed revised settlement agreements, and no new defense lawyer had entered a notice of appearance. The plaintiffs reported that the defendants had been “minimally responsive” and asked the court to require the defendants to clarify whether they intended to continue defending the case. The plaintiffs also asked that a lawyer appear for the defendants or that the defendants make appearances without lawyers where permitted.

Order

The court ordered defense counsel to enter a notice of appearance by August 1, 2022. If the defendants did not retain new counsel, the court ordered Vivek Singhal and Rajni Singhal to make appearances without lawyers by that date.

The court advised that Unak Grocery Corp. doing business as Liberty Cafe, Liberty Food & Grocery Corp Inc. doing business as Liberty Cafe, and Grace Farms, Inc. doing business as City Cafe—the corporate defendants—could not proceed in federal court without licensed counsel. The court stated that if counsel did not appear for those entities, the plaintiffs could move for a judgment based on the corporate defendants’ failure to defend.

The court also ordered the parties to file revised settlement agreements and new letters explaining why the agreements were fair and reasonable by August 15, 2022. If the parties did not make those filings or submit another filing explaining how they intended to proceed, the court would treat that as an intention to abandon settlement and set a status conference. Finally, the court ordered the plaintiffs to serve the order on the defendants’ former counsel, Valerie K. Ferrier, and ordered Ms. Ferrier to serve it on the defendants.

Nature of the Ruling

This was a case-management and representation order. It did not decide whether the defendants violated the Fair Labor Standards Act or New York Labor Law, and it did not resolve the parties’ settlement dispute on the merits.